After five years of withering drought, government forecasters say California is once again headed for a warm and dry winter, especially in Southern California.  The National Weather Service issued its winter outlook Thursday and predicted that La Niña conditions in the Pacific will affect the U.S. in a number of ways. Specifically, the U.S. will likely experience warmer and drier conditions than normal in the South, and colder and wetter than usual conditions in the far north.